I'm baaaack! My trip to Bangkok was just a 3-day sojourn, a rushed one at that. I didn't have a lot of time to do some of the things I wanted to do, like watch a movie at the Paragon Cineplex but all in all it was an ok trip. I had to do a bit of work on this trip, meeting with the travel agent to finalize the company retreat itinerary and pay the deposit. Oh yea.....in May the team and I are headed to the land of "The King and I". I was busy in the past few weeks arranging visa applications for the 8 other people in my team and finalizing all other company retreat related business on my end which was part of the reason I was quiet on the blogging front. All I can say is that this May trip should be one for the ages! It's a comprehensive trip to 4 Thai provinces, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Ayutthya and Pattaya involving jungle elephant rides, staying on river houses, dining at one of Bangkok's premier restaurants and sailing around on a luxury yacht in Pattaya. I can't wait for May! Am going off tangent though.
This trip was meant to be a relaxing shopping holiday but turned out to be less a vacation and more of a work thing. Firstly, my flight got into Bangkok late on Friday evening and I was then stuck in Friday night traffic from the airport to go into town for 2 hours where I was assaulted by numerous billboards advertising the blowout sales happening that weekend all over Bangkok. I found that quite amusing. When I arrived and finally met up with my party that got in earlier in the day, they had already had a head start on the shopping. We just managed to squeeze in dinner before going back to the hotel. We stayed at the Millenium Hilton in the Khlong San area. It's located by the waterfront of the Chao Phya. This is my second time staying at this hotel. I love how the hotels located all along the waterfront use junk styled boats to ferry their patrons to and from the hotel to the Saphan Thaksin BST station. It's such a novelty and makes me imagine the days of yore when the river was a bustling port. I like how the river plays a role even to this day. Anyways, I took advantage of the big bathtub to run myself a hot bath complete with complimentary Crabtree & Evelyn bath tablet from their Le Source range. It was one of the best baths I've taken in some time, I could feel my muscles unwinding. Naturally, sleep wasn't hard to come by after that.
On Saturday, it was an early morning. I had set up a meeting with the travel agent and met up with him around 9 am. My main mode of transportation to get around the city centre and beyond was of course the Bangkok Sky Train system. I think they have one of the best inner city rail systems that I have had the privelege of using, on par with Singapore's MRT. Well it hands down certainly beats the Malaysian LRT and the NYC subway! The agent proceeded to keep me at his office for about an hour and a half before pointing me to the nearest BST station so I could join up with my party at Chid Lom. Once the group was together, we made our way to the Jatujak Weekend Market. This is definitely one of my most favourite shopping destinations when I'm here. The place is teeming with fantastic shopping gems for any shopaholic. Funnily enough, after a little more than an hour, I left only with a 100 baht white cotton tee with a floral lilac pattern and 950 baht worth of secondhand books. I was interested in quite a bit of stuff, namely clothes but having my mother along with me was quite a purse string suppressant, each time I looked at a piece I was interested in and seriously contemplating getting it, her nagging voice in my head kept chanting "Clothes! Clothes! Clothes! What do you need more clothes for?" When I told her this later, she said she wouldn't have said anything of the like and that it was my money and I could do as I wished with it but I know her better than that. She would have DEFINITELY passed comment if I had purchased 2 of the things I had had my eye on.
Since three of the people out of our party of five were over 60 and quite winded by the hot sun and stuffy market conditions, my sis and I sent them off back to the hotel and we proceeded to make our way back to Chid Lom's Central Plaza to get a closer look at shoes by the Brazilian brand Melissa Plastic Dreams which manufactures eco-friendly shoes. This brand is difficult to find in stores and currently are not available for purchase online so when I passed the display in the morning after coming back from my meeting with the travel agent, I was ecstatic. The brand was introduced to me by my sis so she and I were really interested to see the shoes up close and personal.
After being able to look them over, I have to say the shoes are gorgeous and extremely comfy. There were 2 designs I was interested in but one was not within my budget and the other was out of my size so I ended up walking out empty-handed. My sis, however, got the pair that I liked but couldn't afford. This pair was significantly more expensive because it was from the line collaboration with Vivienne Westwood. Sensing my disappointment, my sis suggested going round to Siam Paragon to have a look but as y luck would have it, the Paragon department store did not carry Melissa Plastic Dreams. I ended up going to Kinokuniya and getting "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell".
After a late but quick lunch at Subway (Philly cheese steak sandwiches never tasted so good), we headed back to the hotel to take a short rest before going out for dinner with one of my aunts old comrades, Capt S, from the days she lived in Bangkok. He picked us up from the hotel and took us to his house which was close to the old Bangkok airport. It was quite far but really worth it. We had a simply delicious Thai dinner in his landscaped garden and the whole evening was just the perfect antidote to a busy-ish day. Dining al fresco underneath the stars was great. We had some tot mun plat (the spelling quite possibly is off but that's how it sounds like when pronounced) a.ka. fish cakes, prawn fritter salad, deep fried fish and of course, some authentic Thai tom yum. After that, he took us for a spin round the 24 hours flower, vegetable and fruit markets. By the time we arrived at the hotel it was midnight and all we could manage to do was flop into bed.
The next morning, my flight out was at 2.55 pm, 3 hours earlier than the rest of my family. At first I planned on heading to the airport straight from the hotel but images of the "Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa Mary Jane" kept haunting me and after convincing myself that the shoes were worth the extra bahts (also my sisters devilish encouragements), in the end I ended up dragging my 13.8kg bag onto the boat, crossed over to the train station and all the way to Chid Lom's Central Plaza. Only to discover my sister's purchase yesterday was the last pair in my size. Well, that'll teach me to hesitate. This kind of thing always happens to me. To compensate, I bought this short jacket in khaki which I think is simply adorable. From the plaza, my sis, mum and aunt (my dad had had enough and was resting in the hotel) put me in a taxi headed to the Suvarnabhumi Airport and I arrived at 11.30 am, checked in and proceeded to spend my time walking around the duty free shops and eating the delicious macadamia and green tea ice cream from "The Cream Factory".
I did ask around the LeSportsac store if they had the Lexie tote in stock but nobody seems to know what I'm talking about. I'm starting to think that the tote has not made its way to Asia, if it will at all. I did manage to get a bottle of "Boots Witch Hazel + Tea Tree Anti-Blemish Toner" which I have read about and since I am looking for cheaper alternatives to my "Kiehls Blue Astringent", I guess paying 160 baht was better than paying 25 dollars. From there I debated on the merits of getting some Burger King to go but decided I was better off taking away some KFC for dinner. I ended up spending the remainder of time watching the movie "Role Models" starring Paul Rudd which I found hilarious. Once I boarded the plane, I had Tucker Max's book at the ready. I have to say, from the little I've read of it, it is a damn funny book. I do admit that there are parts which I found truly heinous to read, like when he talks about sleeping with a fat girl on a dare from his mates as if bedding a chubby girl was one of the most horrific things a guy could do not at gun point. Honestly, so what if the person you are seeing is fat, if you like them you like them. You don't have to say only a person not in their right mind would sleep with someone who is overweight.
Anyways, silent giggling and snorts aside, the flight was relatively turbulence free except for the last 10 minutes. We landed, I cleared immigration quite fast and my colleague and driver were already on hand to help with my luggage and take me home. We stopped so I could grab some KFC and then I spent the rest of the evening unpacking and watching tv before reading a lil bit more IHTSBH and going to sleep.
Quite a summation for a 3 day trip!
This trip was meant to be a relaxing shopping holiday but turned out to be less a vacation and more of a work thing. Firstly, my flight got into Bangkok late on Friday evening and I was then stuck in Friday night traffic from the airport to go into town for 2 hours where I was assaulted by numerous billboards advertising the blowout sales happening that weekend all over Bangkok. I found that quite amusing. When I arrived and finally met up with my party that got in earlier in the day, they had already had a head start on the shopping. We just managed to squeeze in dinner before going back to the hotel. We stayed at the Millenium Hilton in the Khlong San area. It's located by the waterfront of the Chao Phya. This is my second time staying at this hotel. I love how the hotels located all along the waterfront use junk styled boats to ferry their patrons to and from the hotel to the Saphan Thaksin BST station. It's such a novelty and makes me imagine the days of yore when the river was a bustling port. I like how the river plays a role even to this day. Anyways, I took advantage of the big bathtub to run myself a hot bath complete with complimentary Crabtree & Evelyn bath tablet from their Le Source range. It was one of the best baths I've taken in some time, I could feel my muscles unwinding. Naturally, sleep wasn't hard to come by after that.
Views of Bangkok
On Saturday, it was an early morning. I had set up a meeting with the travel agent and met up with him around 9 am. My main mode of transportation to get around the city centre and beyond was of course the Bangkok Sky Train system. I think they have one of the best inner city rail systems that I have had the privelege of using, on par with Singapore's MRT. Well it hands down certainly beats the Malaysian LRT and the NYC subway! The agent proceeded to keep me at his office for about an hour and a half before pointing me to the nearest BST station so I could join up with my party at Chid Lom. Once the group was together, we made our way to the Jatujak Weekend Market. This is definitely one of my most favourite shopping destinations when I'm here. The place is teeming with fantastic shopping gems for any shopaholic. Funnily enough, after a little more than an hour, I left only with a 100 baht white cotton tee with a floral lilac pattern and 950 baht worth of secondhand books. I was interested in quite a bit of stuff, namely clothes but having my mother along with me was quite a purse string suppressant, each time I looked at a piece I was interested in and seriously contemplating getting it, her nagging voice in my head kept chanting "Clothes! Clothes! Clothes! What do you need more clothes for?" When I told her this later, she said she wouldn't have said anything of the like and that it was my money and I could do as I wished with it but I know her better than that. She would have DEFINITELY passed comment if I had purchased 2 of the things I had had my eye on.
My Bangkok Haul
Since three of the people out of our party of five were over 60 and quite winded by the hot sun and stuffy market conditions, my sis and I sent them off back to the hotel and we proceeded to make our way back to Chid Lom's Central Plaza to get a closer look at shoes by the Brazilian brand Melissa Plastic Dreams which manufactures eco-friendly shoes. This brand is difficult to find in stores and currently are not available for purchase online so when I passed the display in the morning after coming back from my meeting with the travel agent, I was ecstatic. The brand was introduced to me by my sis so she and I were really interested to see the shoes up close and personal.
L-R: Melissa Vinyl, Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa Mary Jane
After being able to look them over, I have to say the shoes are gorgeous and extremely comfy. There were 2 designs I was interested in but one was not within my budget and the other was out of my size so I ended up walking out empty-handed. My sis, however, got the pair that I liked but couldn't afford. This pair was significantly more expensive because it was from the line collaboration with Vivienne Westwood. Sensing my disappointment, my sis suggested going round to Siam Paragon to have a look but as y luck would have it, the Paragon department store did not carry Melissa Plastic Dreams. I ended up going to Kinokuniya and getting "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell".
After a late but quick lunch at Subway (Philly cheese steak sandwiches never tasted so good), we headed back to the hotel to take a short rest before going out for dinner with one of my aunts old comrades, Capt S, from the days she lived in Bangkok. He picked us up from the hotel and took us to his house which was close to the old Bangkok airport. It was quite far but really worth it. We had a simply delicious Thai dinner in his landscaped garden and the whole evening was just the perfect antidote to a busy-ish day. Dining al fresco underneath the stars was great. We had some tot mun plat (the spelling quite possibly is off but that's how it sounds like when pronounced) a.ka. fish cakes, prawn fritter salad, deep fried fish and of course, some authentic Thai tom yum. After that, he took us for a spin round the 24 hours flower, vegetable and fruit markets. By the time we arrived at the hotel it was midnight and all we could manage to do was flop into bed.
The next morning, my flight out was at 2.55 pm, 3 hours earlier than the rest of my family. At first I planned on heading to the airport straight from the hotel but images of the "Vivienne Westwood Anglomania + Melissa Mary Jane" kept haunting me and after convincing myself that the shoes were worth the extra bahts (also my sisters devilish encouragements), in the end I ended up dragging my 13.8kg bag onto the boat, crossed over to the train station and all the way to Chid Lom's Central Plaza. Only to discover my sister's purchase yesterday was the last pair in my size. Well, that'll teach me to hesitate. This kind of thing always happens to me. To compensate, I bought this short jacket in khaki which I think is simply adorable. From the plaza, my sis, mum and aunt (my dad had had enough and was resting in the hotel) put me in a taxi headed to the Suvarnabhumi Airport and I arrived at 11.30 am, checked in and proceeded to spend my time walking around the duty free shops and eating the delicious macadamia and green tea ice cream from "The Cream Factory".
I did ask around the LeSportsac store if they had the Lexie tote in stock but nobody seems to know what I'm talking about. I'm starting to think that the tote has not made its way to Asia, if it will at all. I did manage to get a bottle of "Boots Witch Hazel + Tea Tree Anti-Blemish Toner" which I have read about and since I am looking for cheaper alternatives to my "Kiehls Blue Astringent", I guess paying 160 baht was better than paying 25 dollars. From there I debated on the merits of getting some Burger King to go but decided I was better off taking away some KFC for dinner. I ended up spending the remainder of time watching the movie "Role Models" starring Paul Rudd which I found hilarious. Once I boarded the plane, I had Tucker Max's book at the ready. I have to say, from the little I've read of it, it is a damn funny book. I do admit that there are parts which I found truly heinous to read, like when he talks about sleeping with a fat girl on a dare from his mates as if bedding a chubby girl was one of the most horrific things a guy could do not at gun point. Honestly, so what if the person you are seeing is fat, if you like them you like them. You don't have to say only a person not in their right mind would sleep with someone who is overweight.
Anyways, silent giggling and snorts aside, the flight was relatively turbulence free except for the last 10 minutes. We landed, I cleared immigration quite fast and my colleague and driver were already on hand to help with my luggage and take me home. We stopped so I could grab some KFC and then I spent the rest of the evening unpacking and watching tv before reading a lil bit more IHTSBH and going to sleep.
Quite a summation for a 3 day trip!
